Answering the Web’s Most Searched Questions about Mormonism 

I attended Utah State University in Logan, Utah (~80-90% Mormon population) where I took an Anthropology of Religion class. My professor (also a Mormon, but the most open-minded I have ever met) had a very interesting theory about the true reason coffee and tea became "outlawed" in Mormonism. As you likely know, the church wasn't outright against their consumption until after the Mormon's had settled in Utah and Brigham Young declared that the "revelation" from Joseph Smith now had to be followed fully for any member to be allowed a temple recommend. My teacher's theory is that Brigham Young's real motivation here was because coffee, tea, and tobacco could not be grown in the local climate, and too much of their money was being exported for these goods, which he wanted to remain in the local community. Therefore, by banning them, more money would stay local. Since the church controlled pretty much the entirety of the wealth in Salt Lake at the time, it would increase the church's income along with his own. This explanation really stuck with me as the most plausible reason for its ban. When in doubt, follow the money.

To think like 4 months ago if I stumbled across this video, I would have claimed that Alyssa was doing the devil's work and clicked off in a rush. Now I can see clearly that she is speaking very calmly and logically. All it took was for me to experience a spiritual level of peace after accepting being gay and going on a date with a guy. As a side note I remember going to the temple to receive my endowment for the first time and having the thought cross my mind, "am I in a cult?". (Keep in mind I had no doubts in my belief that the church was completely true at the time so that is saying a lot if I got bad vibes) I seriously felt so anxious. The man who was guiding me through it had me change into my garments in the locker room. I don't remember why, but I was worried about privacy and the man made a comment like "just be glad you don't have to do the initiatory partially naked like we used to do." I was so uncomfortable. Then add on the strange clothing, chants, signs, tokens, and brainwashing voice telling you to obey or suffer the consequences. I will say, the celestial room is great. It's quiet, peaceful, allows you to think, and often times the room is pretty. After getting there and feeling that peace I thought to myself, maybe it's not a cult, maybe the devil is trying to convince me that it is. (Which is strange because why would the devil be inside the temple?) I have since realized, you can feel that same peace in other quiet and beautiful, bright rooms outside of the temple. I'm glad I figured this out while I'm still young (23) and not when I'm like old. I was seriously going to marry a girl have babies and live the Mormon lifestyle forever while keeping my feelings for men a secret. Now I can marry who I want and live my life in a way that is fulfilling to me. I thought that leaving the church would automatically make me a bad person, but you know what? I still have a tender heart, I love helping and supporting others, and I am probably a lot more understanding and empathetic than when I still believed in the church. I've changed, but not in a bad way.

7:07 "coffee can keep you from being with your family forever" *takes large sip*

My Morman experience & why subscribed to your podcast: In high school I dated the Morman bishops' daughter. We got engaged about the time I was sent to Vietnam. She dear johned me six months into my tour. I later married a Thai woman on my second tour. We had a little boy and when we drove to Washington state to show him to my mother. We had a blowout in a blizzard, and had to stop in Montecello Utah where I rented a motel room. My altenator had also failed so I spent time out in three feet of snow trying to fix it. My wife came to see if she could get me a lobby coffee. She looked like native American, so they told me I had to leave right away. I managed to go to a parts store and bought a spare battery and jumper cables and we left after getting a charge on the battery. As I had been told that no motel in town would rent us a room I was upset. So I took my WIFE AND SIX WEEK OLD BABY OUT INTO A BLIZZAD ON *CHRISTMAS EVE* and left Morman land as fast as could! Never had a good thought about Utah or Mormons again.

My grandparents are struggling with the rules. They’re struggling with wearing the garments with their ill health and disabilities. My grandad struggles because his mind isn’t stable and I think he forgets he’s a Mormon and an elder, and says annti Mormon things., and sometimes their ill health means they can’t attend church. And instead of helping them they shun them and have nothing to do with them unless they’re “perfect”. my grandad he couldn’t find his temple card in his wallet and they made my elderly parents go back home, but it was in his wallet all a long, he needed help and patients not to be turned away. They deserve compassion, and the church is being cruel and petty to them and it’s sad My nana can’t see it. They make poor elderly people pay their tithes even though they struggle to pay bills. My grandad would go to peoples houses to give sacrament (before his mind problems), but when my nana needed it they wouldn’t go to her. The church has no compassion for disabled or mentally unwell people. They make a big show of helping people when they first join up, but when things get difficult later they make people feel excluded.

My dad's been an exmormon my whole life, but still participated in the church for my mom. He was teaching our primary class the word of wisdom, when he said coffee was against the WOW I got super scared and yelled "but dad! You drink coffee!"

babe wake up, alyssa grenfell posted !!

The interesting thing about the garments not being damaged is that the majority of time you are in some type of accident your core body parts aren't damaged. It's usually your arms, legs, hands, and feet because they are your mobile parts of the body. This is why the majority of your scars are on your hands, because you use your hands more than any other body part. The majority of injuries are on hands, arms, legs, and feet.

As an autistic person, all the inconsistent rules would drive me nuts! 😂

If I serve a hot drink in a bowl with a spoon, then it's a soup and it's ok.

I'm 61. 5th generation Mormon. I have recently left. Everything you've said has been taught at some point. My father is 94, raised in Utah, he has some great stories from the early days. (I'm lucky that my parents left Utah before I was born but I am now living in Utah...) In my opinion Many of the things taught are fear based. They're scaring you into their heaven

For Alyssa: You're one of the RU-vidrs that could easily branch out to other topics/niches due to just generally being a good presenter and making quality videos. I know there's an unlimited amount of ExMo stuff to go on for a long time, but it's probably worth keeping in mind if you have other areas you'd enjoy creating in. 😊

The Coffee Paradox alone would force me to reevaluate the entire faith - the drink itself i could take or leave but its the principle of the thing: this is very obviously a purposefully confusing and convoluted list of rules used by the top rich men to control and subjugate the rank and file members FOR LIFE

I'm a practicing member of the LDS Church, I got baptised in April, yet I get a lot of recommendations for your content. I don't always watch it for obvious reasons but when I do you are very informative and I do learn a lot (like the wine at sacrament thing, I had no idea about that!) and I have to give credit that this really is some quality content

I plan on leaving the church when I’m 18. Your videos have really helped me understand Mormonism on a deeper level. I knew I wasn’t a believer of the church in my early years of teen hood but admittedly I couldn’t stop believing. Mormonism really is a mental prison. It’s only recently- within this last year I’ve confidently been able to say I’m not Mormon at all. I can’t wait for my 18th birthday so I can leave and pick up a copy of your book :)

Your videos have been therapy for me in a weird way. Never Mormon but when I was in high school I dated a Mormon girl and we were sweet hearts Junior and Senior year. Her dad hated me, never wanted to interact with me and my family, never knew why. She broke up with me a week before graduation and she ended up going to BYU Idaho and got married after the end of her freshman year with a guy she met mid way thru her fall semester. After watching your videos about generational Mormons being a bit racist (I’m half Hispanic) and not liking churches like Catholicism, which I was, it definitely makes me feel more at peace in someways, instead of wondering “what did I do”

honestly alyssa i think ur "calling" to be a teacher is coming true right now and i feel like ur teaching style is just perfect for youtube and the viewer base you have. you'd honestly make a great professor i think. clearly passionate about subjects and want to share information and you're great at presenting it.

The wearing a cross thing reminds me of a joke Bill Hicks used to tell. He said something along the lines of, "It's just weird to me. You think when that guy comes back he ever wants to see a cross again? It's like wearing a pendant of a rifle in memory of JFK." 😂

Re: "Hot" drinks. It was explained to me that this actually referred to drinks that are brewed from crops grown in hot climates, and therefore grown by mostly dark-skinned people, thus the taboo. So there's actually a racist underpinning to the admonition against coffee and tea. Which doesn't really explain the fact that chocolate is allowed, but hey if logic applied to Mormonism then it wouldn't be Mormonism.

Me - a non mormon, watching ALL your videos, ALL the time. 😅 Your videos are so entertaining and interesting!

29:50 "never take part in watersports" I had to do a little giggle since now leaving the church and coming out as gay... "water sports" took on an entirely different meaning

It used to be (1970’s) all about the caffeine. Decaf coffee was indeed allowed and ALL caffeinated beverages were NOT allowed.

I remember fighting with my mom as a teenager about coffee/tea because we had the same conversation of “well if it’s hot drinks why can’t I drink it iced? Why can we drink hot chocolate? Tell me the reason.” And eventually she just said “because that’s how it is!” She wasn’t shocked when I dropped the church the month I turned 18 😂

Every strict/conservative church thinks their church is the true church, and everyone else is condemned to hell.

When I was a kid, I found my dad burning garment markings in the backyard. I was so confused on what he was doing. He never saw me though. I had also found their aprons along with other temple clothing in my parents room and it scared me. I had no clue what they would wear those for. Growing up, I dreaded becoming adult in the church. So grateful I left this cult.

My grandfather is Mormon but my grandmother is not and never has been. He was a convert at 18, his whole family converted around the same time and he went on a mission, met her when he was in his early twenties. He was a lab technician at the hospital she was training to be a nurse at, she was always adamant that she wasn’t going to convert and he never pushed her, none of their children ever joined the church. He did leave the church for a while, a bishop or something at one point told my grandpa that he needed to divorce my grandma since she wasn’t a member and it made him so angry he left. Not sure why he went back to be honest, though I guess he never stopped believing and he was never pushed to leave my grandma again (she is a member of the united church). 61 years they have been married and luckily for them their difference in belief have never really been an issue since that bishop. It’s pretty crazy how love can see past things like that.

I love you taking a minute to talk about media literacy, "the intent of the content" is such an excellent way to remind us to keep us in check!

no to coffee, but they sure do suck down sodas and anything with sugar.

You claim to not be a good teacher and yet have such an apt way of speaking. It's quite pleasurable listening to your "double-lessons". You are in fact a great teacher, but maybe more so outside of the conventional classroom and within your comfort zone. Down to earth and critical thinker. Keep it up!

Thank you for taking time to promote media literacy! It's so important to understand different perspectives and biases when evaluating the trustworthiness of things we read, especially online.

Maybe Mormon influencers are the reason athletic wear has become part of everyday wear for many women

You speak on content consumption so eloquently and in a way that makes me believe that you’re honest about it all.

Im Exmo, and I got out at around 13 when I was in the Idaho foster care system and wound up in 1 of the 3 foster homes that were not Mormon. This family was Some Sect Evangelical christian and helped me slowly deconstructed the Mormon shelf and showed me all the logical inconsistencies with Mormon doctrine. Really surprised them 7 years later when I used the same tools to deconstruct the christian faith all together and became an atheist. I grew up in SE Idaho, and went to school there. Technically it was a public school, but it was majority Mormon and we all knew it. The school conveniently bent over backwards to leave enough room for the Mormon church to exist through it. Dances, homework, we very lightly scrapped by evolution just enough to say that we learned it. After High School, social life just fell off. Like, there was NOTHING to do in town. So I had a friend of a friend who were in a singles ward. and I joined them for parties and events and hung out and basically just want "Nah, bro. I'm good" whenever they invited me to church.

I very much appreciate your side bar in media literacy and knowing the intent of the site publishing information and looking for primary sources or comparing multiple view points. The USA needs a critical thinking refresher anytime we can squeeze it in. Love your content, saw you on Mormon Stories and have been watching ever since.

I HATED my garments. We live in a desert, sure add an extra layer of uncomfortable clothing. Good think'n. They are in a landfill next to my temple cloths now.

I’m not even a mormon, I’m actually a mexican woman raised in a catholic household and now an agnostic but I’m OBSESSED with your channel haha… you’re awesome!!

A few months ago 2 missionary Mormon guys came knocking, they’re from the USA (I’m in Québec, Canada). I was raised in the evangelical Christian religion (the Salvation Army for us) thought we weren’t the most devoted members, we attended church every Sundays, and it’s also where i met my childhood friend when we were about 2 years old, we’re now 25 and she has a 2 years old daughter (her parents were the pastors, her dad’s still is but in another city) so I had a little bit background of God and stuff so I was polite with them and told them this path of life doesn’t lineup with my own values anymore, but I still listen out of respect (their French was pretty good😅). And now after this video, I’m can’t stop thinking of the undergarments they probably had when they came😂

"Coffee can keep you from being with your family forever".. Alyssa proceeds to drink a big mouthful of coffee. 😂 I'm here for it! 😂❤

love the video!!!! I've recently dived deep into your channel. I'm not a mormon and never was. I was sent to a troubled teen facility in south jordan, utah. turnabout stillwater academy. the entire place was mormon ran and we were forced to go to mormon church on Sundays regardless of what religion we identified with. I'm from north carolina so it was a huge culture shock for me and I recognized it as a cult immediately. the cherry on top of being taken from my bedroom at 3am and being sent to utah was being forced to go to mormon church. the teachings of the church almost solidified every brainwashy twisted thing the staff said to me and I lost it. I actually for a minute thought the only way to save myself was if I converted. luckily I didn't. I was raised southern baptist and am now a proud atheist. alyssa, I love your work. keep doing what you're doing and I would LOVE to see a video connecting the troubled teen industry to the mormon church. much love :)

I really love that your content is not hateful- Not a member of the church at all, but you come across as respectful, not demeaning. Honest about your experiences and transparent about the church. It's really interesting just for learning, and I think it probably makes your content more palatable to current members, because you're not making anyone out to be stupid even when you criticize practices. Just been binging your content the past few days and wanted to note that :))

Haha! Literally had to pause this video to answer the door… two young Mormon men on their mission! I had a nice chat with them and told them I was watching your video and thanks to you I understood much more of what they’re going through. I wished them well and made sure to mention your channel again as they left.

I remember telling Mormons in high school something about temple ceremonies and they said it’s not true and looking back I realize they had no idea

So wild to me that the organization that taught me the phrase "Follow the spirit of the law, not the letter of the law." struggles SO MUCH with that distinction.

Can't believe that Brendon Urie was Mormon. Something new learnt. :)

My best friend in high school was Mormon. This is in South Australia, where there's really little to no religion. Until meeting him, in my tiny teenage brain, I honestly thought that religion was just not a thing that really happened here. It was weird for a bit, I had no clue what it meant to be friends with him. I never understood why he would turn down a lot of seemingly mundane things. I would poke fun at it a bit, and test the waters on occasion, see what I could get away with (nothing malicious, just normal teenage friend razzing) and it would just make him laugh! He would never crack. He never got mad, never got upset, and most importantly, never EVER tried to talk about religion with me. It took me a long time to even notice that, and I have immense love for him more now, than I did even back then, because as an adult, I can look back and see how much pressure his religion, and even I as his friend would selfishly put him under, even if it was joking. He could tell I wasn't interested in religion, and he never looked down on me, and never tried to change me or our dynamic over it. Just out of school, we started a band together. He actually started drinking with the rest of us (we NEVER offered it to him, it was 100% his choice). He was swearing, drinking, hanging out with questionable characters, we would watch South Park together (his favourite episode was the mormon episode) and we all just assumed he was drifting out of mormonism. It was a total shock when, a few years after the band broke up and we hadn't talked for a while (nothing bad, just had adult stuff going on) he messaged me one day to say "hey, can we catch up soon? I'm going to be doing a mission for 2 years." I couldn't believe it! Not that it mattered to me what he did, but I felt SO horrendous that for the past 4-5 years, I had been treating him like he was out of it all. I had done nothing to show him that I cared, and actively had talked shit about something that to my shock, must actually still mean so much to him! Even the pre mission catch up we did have, he was like "I'm doing this for my parents." I even said to him "Dude, I know you. I don't think you would put yourself through this if it wasn't something that you believed in. If that's what you want, then cool! I just hope you go and have a great time!" And he responded with "yeah alright, I do actually just wanna go." Like, sure, I am deeply, DEEPLY anti religious, I think it's evil, but if I had known he was gonna be still going out and doing his mission, still believing, I would have shown an immense amount of emotional support over the past whatever amount of years. I've never forgiven myself for the shit I said about his beliefs because of my assumptions about his level of involvement. I should have shut my damn mouth. He went on his mission, and I expected to hear nothing for 2 years. But out of nowhere! An email! I couldn't believe it. I was so happy that he cared enough to reach out when he could. It wasn't until watching these videos from Alyssa, and hearing that he actually should not have been emailing me, that I can cherish that SO much more. He eventually got back, and we caught up quite a bit that first 6-12 months back. He seemed to be heading down the "ok, my faith is going to be my entire life" route, and that was fine. I was only very happy for him that he seemed to be doing what he wanted. I very awkwardly came out to him not long after he returned, and he did not care one bit that I am gay, and it changed nothing between us. I am SO SO SO thankful for that. After a few catch ups though, I was noticing how he was getting sadder, and more cynical. He was looking tired, and was kinda going back to how we were in our band days. He was drinking again, he would talk about how bad his life has been, mostly about dating within the religion, and how horrible the experience has been for him emotionally. He was angrier, weirder, and pissed off about his friends and family in the church. Any time we caught up, I would just let him let it all out. I'm pretty sure I was the only place he felt comfortable safely letting out his religious frustrations. I would just sit back, let him let it all out, and assure him that the only thing that matters is his happiness. No matter what he chose. There was a little bit where we didn't have much time to catch up. But then when we did one night, I was SHOCKED to see that he was the happiest I've ever seen him. He was making a living doing things that make him happy. Doing things that the church had always softly discouraged him from pursuing (music stuff). He left Mormonism, and was the happiest and healthiest looking he had been since I have known him!!! Literally!!! I've never really had the opportunity to let him know how much I care about him in this way, and how much I've learned from his journey. But, this channel and these stories make me wanna sit him down and give him this embarrassing "this is why I love you" chat 😂

This is such a great concept!! I’m seated

The mental image of someone ceremonially burning what is essentially long underwear is so funny to me, all I can picture is that meme of Elmo with flames reflected in his eyes. I understand why they changed that for optics lol.

Every time you go over the endowment ceremony with the signs and tokens, I think about how hard that would be for neurodivergent people... like that is a LOT to process.

Just giving some fun inside in life of mormons outside of US. Lots of my russian mormon friends say that only black tea is prohibited which is very confusing. They also find coca-cola generally unhealthy so they drink russian herbal soda that actually contains some back tea and this situation is a very big topic of discussion.

Can't wait to watch this one! I'd love to see a future video from a feminist perspective on how the church influenced your views on marriage, motherhood and being a wife etc. Maybe how/if your marriage dynamics changed after deconstructing? Just a thought, love your vids!

Alyssa, you always have the cutest shirts on. You must be thankful you can wear whatever you want now. Love it.

Ah, I now understand why there is an LDS church in my small city in the middle of Argentina. They don’t have to swear off mate! That would really be the sacrifice no Argentine is willing to make. Coffee and tea is cool, but mate is sacred. I’ve been watching your videos for a while (I’ve never been Mormon and I was very curious) and I find them very useful! Keep the good work.

When the first question came up, I went, "Oh, Orson Scott Card right?" Then Melissa listed a bunch of actual celebrities, half of whom I haven't heard of. Realization: I'm a nerd.

7:08 omg that coffe sip is exactly why i love your videos

I bet you anything another reason why they stopped burning the garments is because they probably started making them garments with synthetic fibers. Synthetic fibers are plastic. It's literal plastic. Synthetic fibers don't burn. They melt. If you have a 100% polyester shirt you're gonna throw away, try burning it. It won't burn. It'll shrink away from the flame because it's melting. So if you tried to burn synthetic garments it wouldn't work. I think the garments are a cotton/synthetic blend. so it would work a little bit. but also there would be fumes from the burning plastic and people would get sick and it would be very difficult to burn (flame would keep going out) so it would be bad.

I lost my ex-wife to mormonism. She found a book in a hotel drawer, joined a cult, became a jesus freak, shamed me for being bisexual (eventhough im monogamous) tried to convert me against my will, and filled my room with dozens of bibles we DID NOT have the money for. I had to leave her. Mormonism destroyed my marriage

I appreciate your even and thoughtful analysis of what your experiences have been. You provide a balanced and careful view of a culture you were once deeply embedded in, but you aren't antagonistic to it. I appreciate how you are respectful of their views and behaviors while still being appropriately critical of them. I wish the discussion of various religions could be as calm and reasonable. We'd have a lot less conflict.

That’s funny you didn’t have coffee cake even though there’s no coffee in it.

I love you channel. I am an ex Mormon myself. I was wondering would you consider making a video about all the different doctrines that have changed over the years?

I want to know more about Mormon vacation destinations in Mexico and Central/South America. I have seen Mormon tour groups when I was in Mexico, and for the brief times that I stood with their groups and listened to their guides, it was clear that they were getting a VERY different tour of some historical sites than I was.

Thank you for adding that bit about doing your own research and looking at different sources to build your own opinion. I'm a true atheist, I don't believe any god exists and yet I've actually read quite a few of the most common and some not so common religious texts. I just thought it's important to read to understand more about history and why some people do what they do and also to make sure this really isn't for me. My atheist parents always encouraged that and I took religion as a class in school too for years. I've read pro and anti Mormon things and talked to real Mormon missionaries and definitely built my opinion about that belief system. I still won't treat any of the super young missionaries badly even if I think they believe in something completely ridiculous thought up by a very horrible man with some kind of mental health issue.

Ex-Mormon here, now a Buddhist. There's an interesting trend I've found between Mormonism's polytheistic nature and how a lot of Ex-mormons I've talked to deconverted/left the church: Those who leave the faith tend to gravitate towards pagan/polytheistic/spiritualist practices instead of joining a Christian sect. This is then followed by a progression to complete atheism in some cases. It's pretty prevalent in Utah (from what I've seen and talked with others about, at least), and I think it has to do with all the rituals and strange beliefs that the church engages in.

That scripture says “hot drinks” verbatim. But the restrictions are hodgepodge? So unserious. 🤦🏾‍♀️

Another weird thing about garments is that Mormons don't seem to even realise that "garment" is a perfectly normal word without a special Mormon connotation. I'm not Mormon, but I'm wearing a garment right at this moment, several of them actually! Because to everyone except Mormons, a garment is simply any article of clothing. I have yet to hear a post-Mormon commenter pick up on this fact.

When I returned from my mission, I was garment checked by this lady in my ward who said she saw my “bare midriff.” I’ve always loved to dress really cute and the night before I got home really late from work so I just took off my top garment while laying out my church outfit for tomorrow. My stomach BARELY showed- I mean you really had to be staring to see it just ride up a bit. After that moment, I knew I wouldn’t be going back to church....

Hey Alyssa, I love your videos! Not an exmo or mormon, but I just thought you should know that every time I sit down to watch your longer form content, I make a cup of coffee and spike it with Bailey's in solidarity. Have a good day

The no coffee rule and the so called prophet drinking it reminds me of those cult leaders that prohibit random stuff to the people on their cult just to prove that they have the power to do so and if they question it they get punished.

As a Jew, it’s kind of interesting you talking about the focus on the rules and rituals, and how they get skirted because like, a lot of Judaism is also focused on the rules and rituals, except in Mormonism skirting them is an exception because you’re supposed to follow them without really questioning, so if you make that personal leeway, that’s your thing but doctrine is doctrine from on high, while in Judaism the whole point is the discussion of the rules and their purposes and interpretations, we’ve got the famous midrash of The Oven of Akhnai (which also gets told as a joke because it’s structure let’s it work as either) in which god speaks from the heavens to share their opinion on the issue being discussed, to which the head rabbi of the majority (which god is against) quotes Torah to god, “the Torah is on earth not in heaven,” and basically says “yeah you’re god, so what? It’s now 2 to 20 instead of 1 to 20”

As somebody who was born and raised in Illinois, I feel pride that it was one of our people that killed Joseph Smith.

“devil bean juice”. I’m going to use that.

To be pedantic, Mormonism would be considered Monalatrist or Henotheistic, which are two different terms for religions that acknowledge the existence of other gods, but exclusively worship a single god.

I remember in the 90s, as a kid being raised in the mormon church, our family went out of their way to get 'caffeine free' sodas. I hated drinking it. And suddenly, that rule quietly went away.

Can you imagine thinking, "catholicism isn't strict enough for me"?

Does Mormon mean... Mandatory Obscene Rules Made up for Others Not the founders ?

A small correction about Tonga: like you were saying a bit before that point, trying to get a percentage of active members is hard but 60% is the mormon church's number. Only around 1/3 of those people actually self identified as mormon on a census.

Loved your media literacy rant 💕💕 thank you, Principal Grenfell

id love to see a video of all your post mormon "firsts" and what went into them! your videos are really fun to watch, even though i have zero connection to the church

I would love to see videos with ex’s of other religions and branches of Christianity. I grew up super conservative evangelical baptist and would love to watch you talk through Mormonism vs evangelicals with someone who grew up like I did. I loved the video you did with that guy who was Jehovah’s Witness.

Alyssa it would be so interesting if you could do a deep dive into Ballerina Farm and all their shenanigans. Also I saw on Facebook that a prominent Utah Mormon couple, Olin and Kerilyn Johnson died in a murder suicide in June. There seems to be a weird theme of these ultra “perfect” families and the extreme internal pressure that exists due to the LDS ideology. Anyways would be intriguing to hear your take on this type of high flying wealthy Mormon couples gone wrong. Edited to add Tausha Haight and her 5 kids murder/suicided by her husband last year. Also Mormons.

That little sip of coffee after you tell the audience it can keep you from your eternal family is hilarious. And thanks for giving people a great lesson on analyzing the agenda of each web site folks encounter as they research anything including Mormonism. Everyone should keep agendas in mind with every source.

So, to anyone who can answer my question, here it goes. If you can get baptized, get your endowments, and get married after death, why do it here? Drink your coffee and tea. Keep your ten percent of your income, wear whatever you like, sleep in on Sundays, or do whatever you want on the last day of the weekend. Then, when you die, a good Mormon person will get you to celestial kingdom by proxy. So why have missionaries? Just wait for them to die?

I was not expecting to get Online Research Tips & Best Practices in this video, but really appreciated it.

Hi Ms. Alyssa! Nevermo here, but I was raised in a household with 'cult light' beliefs. I "jumped ship" in my late teens, but the experience fostered an academic interest in authoritarian religions and how they often use mind control as a tool. If I'm not mistaken, historically, Mormons have been rather militant. I've always seen their dietary restrictions as not only a way of reinforcing control but as a way of ensuring their soldiers were healthy and in 'fighting shape' as well. Seeing as Mormonism has a heavy emphasis on recruitment, is it possible that these influencers receive a type of special dispensation from the church, enabling them to "skirt the rules" and present the many rules and regulations in a more secular and potentially appealing light? Thank you for sharing your experiences and knowledge! I'm so happy that you're FREE.

The media literacy lesson 🥹 the stuff this world needs! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

I want to set up a food truck called Outer Darkness near Mormon Temples.

I feel bad for the teens who firmly believe that the facts of the endowment ceremony aren’t true. They’ll get a huge shock when they go through it.

the mormon sex myths mentioned at the end are so interesting to me, because of course they're salacious and intriguing, but are often used as a counter to mormons like "oh they're so wild, they do soaking how crazy," it baffles me that people would rather make fun of a made up rumor than criticize the mormon church for the realities of ridiculous, discriminatory doctrine

Wow, embracing the cross and removing Moroni are BIG, STRANGE things. I was pretty devout growing up (am exmo now) and would always get a feeling of deep happiness in my heart when I saw a Moroni statue appear on the horizon. It felt very important and hopeful for me and was a real homeward call for me as a member in an area with a relatively low density of Mormons. It seems like they're eventually going to dilute themselves into insignificance if this is the way they're going.

Joseph Smith’s “revelation” about hot drinks was probably a delusion.

Also id love to hear more about Warren Jeffs and the difference between FLDS and LDS

So I lived in China for 6 years and I was a confused Christian when I first got there. Starting to deconstruct, but unsure still. And now I SO appreciate that China is intentionally secular. Because I literally could not be bombarded with doctrine of any religion, it gave me the space from it all to really reflect on my life outside of religion. It was a beautiful time for me. I also for the first time made friends who were totally removed from religion (both Chinese people and other expats) and it was great to make connections with people who were just good without religion as a moral compass. And it’s not that you can’t practice religion in China. If you do, you have to register your place of worship with the local government and you can’t be preaching on the street. Now that I’m fully deconstructed, I really appreciate that religious Propoganda is absent in China. (DO NOT reply about Chinese government Propoganda and the evils the Chinese government does. Don’t do it 😂 I’ll get annoyed! 😅 Like any government, the Chinese government does questionable things and indoctrinated a lot of their citizens to be extremely patriotic. Hmmmm…. Does that sound like another country we know 🤔🤔🇺🇸🦅?👀 Two things can be true at once. I can appreciate the beautiful life journey I went on in China, while recognizing that the government does questionable things.)

100% the alleged plates were NOT in the room, more so when in PA. Isaac Hale REFUSED to let him keep them in his home IF he were not allowed to see them. So Joseph placed them somewhere in the woods. Hale stated at least twice that Smith did NOT have the plates when translating with Martin Harris, BUT were elsewhere.

watchinr this while rolling a joint. i hope joseph smith is proud ❤

What I want to know is why anyone thinks soaking isn’t sex. I’ve heard another ex Mormon influencer say she soaked with her now husband, one or twice then gave in and just started doing it the old fashioned way.

"Law of Chastity, which means that we have sexual relations only with the person to whom we are legally and lawfully wedded according to God's law." Now, tell me again how all the fornications of Jo Smith fulfilled the Law of Chastity.

It must be noted in Joseph Smith's time drinking water was a risky business. Same with milk - Lincoln's mother died from milk contaminated by poison weed. The "safest" things to drink were heated / brewed / fermented.

Have to be honest, coffee was the biggest letdown for me when I left the church 😂 Lovin my Chai, though.

I grew up in the 70s and 80s with very close personal friends on my street who were Mormons. They could not drink coffee, tea, or what was most important to us kids-Coca-Cola. The coolest thing their mother did however in lieu of same was to provide all of the kids on our street with EVERY flavor of Shasta soft drinks (caffeine free of course) known to man. Do any of ya'll in Gen X remember Shasta? We had at least 8-10 flavors to choose from every day, Raspberry, strawberry, Twist, grape, ginger ale, fruit punch, creme soda, etc., etc. Then our friends turned 18 and we never saw them again.

Wouldn't it be funny if "hot drinks" was originally a reference to alcoholic (hot) drinks and this whole time mormons have been refusing coffee and tea for no "good" reason? I'd be inclined to take "spirits" to mean hard booze (as in, stronger than wine) anyway and prohibiting "hot drinks" (aka booze and maybe something for flavor in hot water) would track with that. Would also explain the wine Joey boy was apparently hypocritically so fond of.

Aside from enjoying and learning from the video, I really like and appreciate the fact that you touched on media literacy. This is such an important topic that needs more discussion, now more than ever.